Beware of Those Advising GOP To Unilaterally Disarm

Isn't it ironic that Republicans keep receiving advice to be more conciliatory and work with President Obama while President Obama not only is receiving the opposite advice but fully intends to be even more divisive in his second term?

On "Meet the Press" last week, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said: "There's also a dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the (Republican) party. What do I mean by that? What I mean by that is they still sort of look down on minorities."

That is outrageously false, but lest you think hypersensitivity to race is all that's bothering Powell, he made clear that he also has a problem with the GOP's policies. He said: "In recent years, there's been a significant shift to the right, and we have seen what that shift has produced: two losing presidential campaigns." A shift to the right? You've got to be kidding. Why isn't Powell concerned about Obama's uber-leftism?

"Republican" Powell also said that the GOP has become the party of the rich and that it needs to address the issues of education, immigration and climate change before the next election -- you know, to imitate Barack Obama's party of moderation. Here again, it's disgraceful that Powell has endorsed Obama's class warfare slander.

This past Sunday, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on "Face the Nation," was only slightly more charitable toward her own party. She said, "The Republican Party certainly has to stop turning off large segments of the population."

But if "turning off segments of society" is bad politics, how do these long-respected Republican figures explain away the fact that President Obama won re-election with precisely that strategy? Why are they not directing their advice toward him, as well, saying that if he wants to have a successful second term, he should work with Republicans instead of relentlessly demonizing them?

The liberal media also give Obama a pass for his partisanship -- and go further. They're encouraging him to be even more divisive and combative.

Slate magazine recently advised: "Go for the Throat! Why if he wants to transform American politics, Obama must declare war on the Republican Party." The article said: "Obama's only remaining option is to pulverize. Whether he succeeds in passing legislation or not, given his ambitions, his goal should be to delegitimize his opponents."

"That's just a progressive publication," you say. "Obama is not about to pursue such a militant course."

Oh? Well, I guess you missed it when major media figures Bob Schieffer, host of CBS' "Face the Nation," and John Dickerson, CBS' political director, recommended, according to The Daily Caller, "an aggressive political strategy in dealing with Republicans."